On Thursday, officials took Couch to the Tarrant County Lon Evans Correction Center after she arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on a flight from Los Angeles. As her lawyer wants her bail reduced, they have scheduled another hearing for Monday. She didn’t sleep much, he said.
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Patten later issued a statement criticizing the public manner in which Anderson has handled the case and questioning why he spoke to Couch in court without her attorney present. One woman, here for her husband’s case, said she hadn’t heard of Ethan or Tonya Couch before. He told her that he had asked about Couch’s passport during the arraignment and that the sheriff had inquired about it later to follow up on the judge’s question.
She was deported last week from Mexico, shortly after she and her son, Ethan Couch, were taken into custody in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta.
Salvant told Couch if she meets bail, she will be subject to a variety of conditions such as wearing a Global Positioning System ankle monitor and, if she has not already done so, the surrender her passport.
At a news conference on Friday, Anderson said he has responded to Couch’s complaints by saying it “is a jail, not a resort”.
Tonya Couch made an initial appearance in a Texas courtroom Friday on a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon. Mother and son had fled Texas for Mexico in November before being captured late last month. Sheriff Dee Anderson told KDFW 4 (Fox) that this was the first time in his career he personally escorted a prisoner to jail to ensure everything “went well” in the process “with the eyes of the world upon us”.
The judge seemed unmoved, but Patten kept complaining about Sheriff Dee Anderson to the press. Tapia II ordered her held without bail while she was waiting to be picked up by authorities from Texas.
Besides the large media presence for Tonya Couch’s hearing, business in Salvant’s court seemed to continue as usual.
Tonya Couch, right, is escorted into Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.
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During his time in Mexico, the 18-year-old Ethan reportedly spent ,000 on drinks and lap dances at a strip club. “And I’ve said over and over, we’re patient, we’ll wait, we’ll be here”.
